


Rivers and Roads

by celeste9



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Age Difference, Alien Cultural Differences, Canon-Typical Violence, Crushes, F/M, Flirting, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Pre-Relationship, Road Trips, Trope Subversion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-19
Updated: 2016-11-19
Packaged: 2018-08-30 14:04:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8536042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celeste9/pseuds/celeste9
Summary: When Leia needs a pilot to accompany her on an extended diplomatic trip on behalf of the Resistance, Poe volunteers.Of course he does. Leia isn't even surprised.She may, however, end up surprised before this trip is over.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [magnetgirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/magnetgirl/gifts).



> A Poe and Leia road trip sounded pretty good to me when I saw you mention it in your list of likes, so I hope you enjoy this! Poe's adoration of and devotion to Leia is one of my favorite things so this was a fun ship to explore. Thank you to my wonderful beta. Everything in here is made up except for the Hivers, which I learned about via a wiki page and then adapted to suit the fic. :) The title is from The Head and The Heart.

Leia had long since become used to the fact that when presented with a mission, Poe would volunteer. The riskier the better. Even after she left him to die on the _Finalizer,_ Leia would hardly be able to finish outlining what she needed before Poe offered to go.

So all things considered, she couldn’t say she was actually surprised when Poe volunteered to accompany her as her pilot on this particular jaunt.

Still. Leia wasn’t certain he had grasped the fine details.

“We’ll be taking a two-person freighter, Poe,” she warned. “No fancy flying. No heroics. Lots of boring sit-down discussions. This is a diplomatic trip and nothing else.”

“Then who better than me to keep you company, General?” Poe said with an easy grin. “Besides, you know as well as I do that nothing ever goes to plan. I’d like to be your back-up. If that’s all right with you.”

Poe’s point was a good one, and it was true that there were few people she would trust to have her back more than Poe. The list was shorter since Starkiller.

“I’ll expect to hear no complaints,” she told him. “I did warn you.”

“No complaints,” Poe promised. “Pretty sure I couldn’t ask for anything better than a trip through the galaxy with you, General.”

Leia rolled her eyes. “If that’s the best you can do, I think reports of your charm have been overestimated.”

Poe laughed. “Give me a few days. You’ll warm to me.”

“Ever the optimist,” Leia said.

It was true, though, that Leia enjoyed the way Poe looked at her, not only like she was a person worth following but like she was the _only_ person worth following, like it had been Poe’s lifelong dream to take her commands, to walk in her shadow. She remembered Poe as a curly-haired, bright-eyed young boy, with his mother’s reflexes and his father’s wide smile, begging her to tell him stories.

She remembered him, too, as the disillusioned young man who had sat before her on Mirrin Prime, determinedly unapologetic for the recklessness that would have cost him his commission, eager to make a difference.

Leia knew why Poe always volunteered. Only half the reason was because he was a bit crazy.

The other half was because of her.

-

Leia dressed for comfort on the morning she and Poe set off, in loose, casual clothing with her hair in a braid wound around her head. Poe glanced sideways at her as she settled into the seat beside his pilot’s chair, wearing the dark pants and leather jacket that Leia sometimes wondered were the only clothes he had outside his flight suit and Navy uniform. His hair was artfully rumpled in that way that was meant to look unintentional but had probably taken an hour in front of the mirror.

Leia carefully schooled the amusement out of her expression.

The purpose of this excursion was to muster support for the Resistance. Now more than ever, with the loss of the New Republic Senate, the Resistance needed to grow and in order to do so, they needed funds, trading and supply routes, and safe havens. Leia hoped that her own presence might work in their advantage, to show how serious the threat was and how genuine their requests were.

“First time I’ve ever chauffeured royalty,” Poe said as he started up the systems.

“Your mother did it; you can do it, too.”

“I’ve got a bigger mouth than my mom, though. Compliments of my dad.”

“Unfortunately for me.”

Poe chuckled and eased the ship into motion. If he went a bit faster than was precisely necessary, Leia decided not to mention it. Let him have his fun.

It might be the only excitement he got for some time. Though Leia knew better than to assume there would be no hiccups, she really did think this trip would be dull in comparison to the jobs Poe normally went out on.

On the other hand, Leia couldn’t say she would particularly mind getting a bit of excitement of her own. Sometimes she missed being in the middle of things in the way she used to be, running and getting shot at and coming out the other side.

Clearly she was losing her mind as she got older.

She dozed for most of the flight, waking when she felt the pull of the ship exiting hyperspace. She blinked and stretched, realizing how much she must have needed the rest.

“Lucky I’m not sensitive,” Poe said, “or I’d be insulted you’d rather sleep than enjoy the pleasure of my conversation.”

“I have a feeling I’ll need all my strength to make it through our first round of negotiations.”

“Not excited about the cultural opportunity this planet presents?”

“Excited isn’t the word I’d use.”

Their first stop was to a planet where all formal discussion was sung. Though Leia had thankfully been prepared for this, when they arrived she still let Poe do an unusually large amount of the talking, mostly in an effort to protect their companions’ eardrums. The entire Resistance base knew Poe could sing, due to his penchant for doing so while he was repairing his ship. Leia, on the other hand, had never made it through a lullaby well enough to actually get Ben to fall asleep.

Bidding farewell to that planet was a relief.

On the second planet, the moderately successful negotiations were concluded with a dance. Given that the natives had a few extra limbs in comparison to humans, trying to follow the steps was something of a lost cause. Their hosts seemed content with the effort, though, and were happy enough to watch Leia and Poe spin around the room in a dance more suited to their body structure.

Poe was a good dancer, graceful and coordinated, and dancing with him made Leia think of long-ago days when she had spun round and round in cavernous ballrooms as the junior senator from Alderaan, elaborate dresses swirling around her ankles. Poe's hand was warm on her waist and he smelled sweet, like the bath salts that had been provided in the refresher.

“It’s probably inappropriate to say so, but you look lovely, General,” Poe said as he caught Leia back in against his body and then let her twist away.

“Is that surprise I hear?”

Poe’s look of protest was almost comical. “No! I mean, you’re always lovely, obviously, but you normally dress… You… You know, I’m gonna stop before I dig myself even deeper.”

“Wise decision,” Leia said, her lips twitching upwards. “But thank you for the compliment, Poe. It’s been some years since I’ve had young men to say such things to me.”

“With all respect, General, there is no lack of young men thinking such things.”

Leia laughed outright. “I’ll take that compliment, as well.”

“It’s how I meant it,” Poe said, the faintest of blushes on his cheeks. “Though I realize I maybe shouldn’t have said it out loud.”

“Your mother told me once that when you were six, you declared to everyone who would listen that you were going to marry me one day,” Leia said, smiling at the memory. “Apparently you were determined to become more impressive than Han in order to sweep me off my feet.”

The blush had deepened. “Well, they do say I’m the best pilot in the galaxy, so I think I did a pretty good job.”

“I don’t recall any attempts at wooing, though.”

“I figured letting you give me orders was good enough for me.” Then Poe dipped Leia towards the floor, sweeping her in again towards his chest. “Could still sweep you off your feet if you want, though.”

Leia thought that if she were a little younger, a little less jaded, a little more free, she would be charmed. In the meantime she settled for amused, and perhaps a bit flattered. Poe would be fun.

If only Leia had time for fun.

-

The Chofeiri were a telepathic species, though they were so immune to the Force that Leia found she could sense nothing from them herself. It was disconcerting, to say the least, to reach out and feel nothing but a void. It was less like a wall she hit than like… a complete absence, as though they were blank spaces within the living world.

Even sitting with them was so uncomfortable as to be unpleasant. It made Leia’s skin crawl, the _wrongness_ of it.

Poe was utterly unaffected. For him, there was nothing odd at all because this was how he lived all the time, sensing nothing of the Force surrounding him and penetrating all living creatures. Leia was almost jealous as she watched him sit there so easily.

The Chofeiri ambassador who had taken charge of the discussions was called Zothar. She apologized profusely for any discomfort she and her people might cause Leia.

“You are not the first Force-sensitive we have encountered here,” she explained, “though it has been many years. The stronger they are the worse it is for them. I deeply apologize.”

“Please,” Leia said. “You have done nothing wrong.”

Zothar blinked large golden eyes. “Still. We are sorry to be the cause of your distress. Especially when you come to us with such a worthy proposal. Of course we are grateful to one who did so much to save us from the Empire, and now from this… new threat.”

“Then you wish to help us?”

“We are a peaceful people, you understand. We know nothing of fighting. But we could make the resources of our planet available to you, if that should be of help.”

“A great deal,” Leia said, her skin still prickling with wrongness though the smile that curved her lips was real.

“It is… rare,” Zothar said, hesitating. “Rare to encounter humans who are so honest in their intent. Transparent, if I may. You say exactly what you think, both of you.”

“I don’t always get that as a compliment,” Poe said, grinning.

Leia resisted rolling her eyes.

“It is a compliment from us,” Zothar said fervently. “So many come and try to hide - what they desire, what they fear, who they are. You do none of these things. You are exactly as you present yourselves.”

 _Stubborn and willful_ , Leia thought. So many had told her that. She had never tried to be anyone but who she was and through all her years of politics she had tried to hold true to that.

She supposed it was nice to know she had succeeded, at least in so far as the Chofeiri could see.

Before they left, Zothar pulled Leia aside and told her, “Your pilot, he admires you a great deal.”

Though this revelation was nothing Leia didn’t know already, it felt odd to hear it from another. Particularly in light of how Zothar would know it. “Well, you were right when you called him transparent.”

“We do not make a habit of peeking inside when not welcome, or when it is not necessary, but he thinks very loudly. His emotions run deep and strong.”

“That sounds like Poe. I’m not sure why you are telling me this, though.”

Zothar shrugged her shoulders. “It seemed important that you should know. How he values you.”

Leia glanced back towards Poe, where he was smiling with a few young Chofeiri. “I already know.” She had been using Poe’s regard for her for as long as he had been with the Resistance, and it would be a lie if she claimed never to have warmed herself with the knowledge of his affection.

It had been difficult, after Han, and even before. She felt it was reasonable to appreciate the attentions of a handsome young man, even if she never acted on them.

“Everyone thinks they know,” Zothar said, and then left Leia with that cryptic statement.

Leia sighed to herself. The Chofeiri may have been Force-immune but they shared more in common with the Jedi than just a capacity for telepathy.

-

The governing body of the fourth planet was harboring a First Order assassin. As Leia hid with Poe behind a short partition wall, she deeply regretted the fact that they had turned over their blasters upon arrival as a sign of good faith.

Good faith her ass.

“And you said there would be no call for heroics,” Poe said.

Leia’s shoulder ached from the blaster fire she had been caught with, but she ignored it, knowing that she needed to be focused if they were going to survive this. She centered herself, finding the calm that Luke had taught her to reach. Leia opened her eyes and looked at Poe. “Do you have my back?”

Without hesitation, Poe said, “Always.”

Leia nodded once and sprang to her feet. She rolled to avoid the spray of blaster fire and then threw herself at the assassin with as much force as she could muster. After that it was just a brawl, as Leia managed to knock the blaster out of his hand. She hoped Poe would have the sense to claim it.

The assassin pulled a vibroknife on her and they scuffled until Leia twisted his arm behind him, squeezing the fine bones of his wrist until he yelped and dropped it. She jabbed her knee into his groin and used his distraction to edge him off balance until he was on his back on the floor with Leia crouched over him, her knee pressed to his throat.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Poe bend down and pick up the vibroknife, handing it to Leia as he aimed the assassin’s discarded blaster at his forehead. There was naked admiration on Poe’s expressive face and Leia might have been flattered if she’d had time for that sort of thing.

“You’re strong for a tiny woman, I’ll give you that,” the assassin said hoarsely as Leia moved her knee in favor of lining up the vibroknife with his jugular. “But then, you are the Hutt slayer, aren’t you?”

She was. Leia might never have trained to become a Jedi as her brother had done, but she knew that ability, that strength, was still within her. Leia had called upon it to strangle Jabba without even knowing what she was doing.

She knew better now.

Refusing to engage the assassin, Leia asked, “Who sent you?”

“You already know the answer to that, princess.”

“How did you know we were here? Who told you?”

The obvious answer was the planet’s natives, but Leia knew better than to discount the idea that there could be spies hidden among the Resistance. She didn’t like it, but she knew she had to assume it could be true.

When the assassin failed to answer, Leia pushed the blade in against his neck, breaking the skin. All he did was smile and say, “I’m less afraid of you, princess, than I am of what he’d do to me.”

“No,” Leia said, but it was too late. He’d cracked something, probably hidden in a tooth, and his mouth was foaming.

He had poisoned himself.

“Damn it!” she swore, getting up in disgust. A dead assassin was of no use to her.

And what he’d said… He couldn’t have meant…

_Ben._

Leia forced her expression into blankness as she turned to Poe. She tucked the vibroknife into her belt and said, “Let’s get the hell off this rock.”

Their escape was almost distressingly easy. They ran to their docked ship and no one even tried to stop them. In Leia’s experience, ease generally meant a trap of some sort, though in this case she was inclined to think that the natives just wanted to be rid of them, dead or alive.

It was only as Leia gingerly touched her wounded shoulder after they had made the jump to hyperspace, adrenaline diminishing and letting the pain grow stronger, that Poe glanced worriedly at her.

“You’re hurt!”

“It’s nothing.”

“You’re hurt,” Poe repeated, pressing a few buttons on the console before getting up from his seat and going for the small medical kit they kept onboard.

“Don’t fuss,” Leia said, sighing, but she knew it was no use. It was probably better to have it taken care of anyway.

At least a blaster wound was something that could be dealt with; she was less excited about how her weary bones would feel the morning after that scuffle. She wasn’t as young as she used to be and her joints didn’t move quite like they used to, nor did her body recover as quickly.

Poe’s fingers were hovering at the edges of Leia’s torn sleeve. “I’m sorry, General, but I need you to… If you don’t mind…”

Leia’s lips quirked. “I think my modesty can survive you seeing my bare shoulders, Poe.”

“Sure, _yours_ can,” Poe muttered, his cheeks brilliantly red.

When Leia removed her shirt, Poe’s gaze never once flickered away from her face. Leia held the article of clothing to her chest, less for her own benefit and more for Poe’s. She had spent enough years being stuffed into intricate dresses by maids as well as living in less than ideal circumstances with the Rebellion to be bothered by someone seeing her in her undergarments.

Poe, however, looked rather like a teenager presented with a far larger quantity of bare skin than he had ever expected to see.

Leia couldn’t resist teasing. “Never seen a girl’s shoulders before?”

“Been a while,” he said, easing into that disarmingly self-deprecating smile.

“Think of me as your mother. I’m old enough to be.”

“Respectfully, General, I never wanted to marry my mother.” Poe’s fingers were quick and nimble as he cleaned the area and dressed it, gentle enough to avoid undue pain.

“I wouldn’t judge. I kissed my brother once, you know.”

Poe snorted. “They left that part out of the holonews.”

“They left out all the good bits.”

“Apparently. Hutt slayer? They call you that?”

“Some do.” Not the sort of people Poe would associate with. Leia ran her fingers over the neat bandage around her upper arm before putting her shirt back on. “There. The world didn’t end.”

“Depends on how you look at it,” Poe said, dragging his teeth over his bottom lip for an instant.

“Oh, now you want to flirt,” Leia said with a laugh.

“My timing’s terrible, huh?”

If Leia were being honest, it was terribly endearing that when she’d had her shirt off, Poe could only awkwardly focus on treating her wound, and now that she was clothed again, he could make good on his reputation for being a bit of a flirt. He was a mass of contradictions and yet possibly the most genuine person Leia had ever known. He was refreshingly open and he never pretended to be anyone he wasn’t.

She found herself remembering the Chofeiri, and Zothar’s damnably mysterious words. _Everyone thinks they know._

-

After the failed attempt on their lives, they stayed a night in a nice hotel on a popular vacation planet in the area because Leia felt she deserved it. They had dinner and drinks and Leia felt almost like a normal person for once. When they’d first sat down Poe had said, “Feels like a kriffing lifetime since I’ve had time for this,” and Leia felt that captured her feelings perfectly.

The restaurant was situated high in the mountains; they’d taken an airbus to reach it. The view was spectacular, clear skies and greenery as far as the eye could see. Leia enjoyed the urban planets like Coruscant, but she loved the ones where nature still held sway, the planets that reminded her of Alderaan. Life among the natural world.

Poe asked the serving droid for the house specialty, extra alcoholic, and apparently he didn’t even tone down the charm for droids. When Leia rolled her eyes, he only laughed and said, “Everyone likes to be treated like they matter.”

“Pretty sure that droid doesn’t have the parts your smile’s aimed to affect.”

“Beebee appreciates my smile.”

“I don’t think your relationship with Beebee-Ate fits the model of usual behavior.”

“Mmmm, and how long was Artoo in mourning because your brother left him behind?”

“Never said my brother had normal relationships with astromechs, either.”

“I’ve had conversations with Threepio. I know what he’s like. You’ve kept him around for thirty years.”

Leia sipped her drink. “I don’t smile at Threepio like you smiled at that serving droid.”

Poe smiled at Leia like he’d just smiled at the serving droid. “Honestly I think this is just my face. Don’t know how to smile any other way.”

Given that Leia had intimate knowledge of just how Poe made it through all his crazy missions, she was disinclined to believe that Poe didn’t know exactly what he was doing when he turned on the charm.

It was another one of those contradictions. Poe was genuinely a nice person who cared about those around him, but he was not above using his genetic gifts to get what he wanted when the occasion called for it.

It made him effective. Poe was a lot more than a pilot and Leia trusted him accordingly.

He was also pleasant company. It was nice to relax, to hold a conversation that had nothing to do with the Resistance or the First Order or the million little things Leia had cause to stress over on a daily basis. Everything about Poe was easy, from the way he smiled to the way he laughed to the way he spoke and to the way he listened.

Maybe that last part was why Leia said what she did.

“You know who sent that assassin after me.”

Poe’s dark eyes were big and sad. “I can venture a guess.”

“Doesn’t have the stomach to do it himself, I guess.” Leia spun her glass between her fingertips.

“Seems like a half-hearted effort if you ask me. He must have known it would never work.”

“Should I be pleased he thinks I can handle myself when faced with an assassin for hire?”

Shrugging, Poe said, “I think probably he knew he had to make an effort but… You’re his mother.”

That hadn’t seemed to matter when Han… Leia held back a shudder. “I still wish I could see him. Speak to him.”

“I imagine he’s afraid to do just that.”

Leia took in the tense set of Poe’s shoulders. “I shouldn’t even have brought it up.”

“Why? I’ll live. He couldn’t…” Poe swallowed. “I’m still here, General. And I’m always here for whatever you need me for, even if it’s only to talk.”

 _Yes, to talk about my son who tortured you_ , Leia thought. She felt that she had begun to take Poe for granted, simply because he was always there. Volunteering. Standing at her shoulder.

“I remember him, you know,” Poe said softly. “I remember who he used to be. I’m not… I don’t know if that kid is still in there somewhere. But I still remember him.”

That was the problem, Leia knew.

Because she could never forget that boy.

-

The Hivers populated a mildly cold planet, a bit like late winter on Alderaan, just before the spring warm-up. Leia and Poe were fitted with specially designed translation devices, the only way they could communicate with their hosts. The Hivers themselves used computing devices that translated what they wrote into speech Leia and Poe could hear.

She had never seen a Hiver before. They kept to themselves, rarely venturing far from their home planet. They were a peaceful and altruistic society, eager to help.

Leia couldn’t help but to think that the Empire must have hated them. Had the Death Star, either of them, been kept in play, undoubtedly its beam would have been turned to this planet sooner rather than later.

The Hivers weren’t even quite five feet tall, with six limbs in a radial symmetry. The head limb had six eyestalks and six tentacles, though each other limb also had moveable digits. Poe was obviously charmed, giving them his radiant smile, and Leia thought the way some of the Hivers waved their tentacles around and ducked their eye stalks meant they weren’t quite immune.

Apparently Poe’s charisma worked even on a vastly non-humanoid race with absolutely no sexual compatibility to humans.

The Hivers lived in a complex underground tunnel system that connected to large ground level buildings that resembled beehives. There weren’t precisely chairs to speak of but the Hivers had set out mats that were not uncomfortable.

In spite of the less than ideal communication system, the negotiations were rather simple. Leia had rarely encountered a species that was so purely interested in the well-being of the galaxy at large. They could not join the Resistance per se, and could offer nothing in the way of food supplies, given their diets were so incompatible with other races, but they were more than willing to give what they could.

Leia spent an amusing evening watching Poe fail spectacularly at the Hivers’ card games. It wasn’t that Poe couldn’t grasp the rules; indeed he was a quick learner and highly adaptable. It seemed more that the Hivers themselves were master manipulators. Leia found herself wishing she could set Lando at them and see who came out on top.

She tried a few games herself, earning the Hivers’ admiration and Poe’s wide smile when she managed to win one.

The following morning, when they were back on the freighter and preparing to leave, Poe remarked, “They reproduce asexually, you know. They were incredibly eager to hear all about how humans do it. Apparently they find the topic endlessly fascinating, particularly when they have a genuine human to talk to.”

Leia only just resisted rolling her eyes. “You explained how sex works to our new allies?”

Poe bit his lip and grinned. “Oh, they know how it works. They’re just interested in details.”

“I’m sure you’re an excellent storyteller.”

“I’m beautifully descriptive.”

“I’ll bet,” Leia said. “Especially when you’re in a dry spell? Isn’t that what you told me?”

“Gotta amuse myself somehow,” Poe said, happy to turn the joke on himself.

Leia couldn’t help it. She laughed.

As Poe eased the ship off the ground, he smiled sideways at her, smaller this time, sort of shy.

In spite of herself, Leia found she was charmed, just like the Hivers.

-

The last planet on their list was a deeply matriarchal society wherein men were subservient in all things. Poe seemed quite pleased about this, actually, and promised to be highly deferential.

“You rarely do as you’re told, Poe,” Leia said before they disembarked, arms crossed in front of her chest.

“General, I resent that. When have I ever let you down?”

“Let me down? Never. But you tend to deliver on your promises in a way that is uniquely tailored to how you want to do things.”

“I like doing what you tell me to, though,” Poe insisted and the look on his face was enough to give Leia pause.

She let the conversation end there and Poe followed her off the freighter, just behind her shoulder.

The native beings were humanoid, though their builds were naturally taller and more slender and their skin had a faint bluish tinge. A woman met them with a smile, bowing low.

“Our visitors from the Resistance,” she said in accented Basic. “We have been awaiting you with anticipation. Particularly you, General Organa. Such an honor. I am Tala; my mother is the ruler of this region.”

“The pleasure is ours,” Leia said as she and Poe bowed to greet her.

“A dinner has been planned for you but first we thought you might prefer to wash up. If it would suit you, you can be shown to your room?”

“That would suit me very well.” Leia hoped the water was hot and the pressure strong.

“We assume you would like your manservant to remain with you, so he may see to your pleasure?”

Leia only just stopped herself from snorting in laughter. “My what?”

Tala’s expression flickered. “Was that not the proper word? Perhaps it does not translate well. Not… not slave, but…”

“I understand,” Leia said, trying to save the woman from embarrassment. She thought she did understand, in any case, and Poe’s wide eyes and flushed cheeks indicated that he did as well. “Poe is not exactly my--”

She stopped when she saw the tightening of Tala’s mouth and realized that she was very close to committing a cultural taboo she wasn’t even aware of.

Manservant it was, then. Poe would just have to deal with it.

“I will be very comfortable if he stays with me, of course,” she finished.

“Wonderful,” Tala said with a smile. “Please, allow me to take you to the room we have prepared. It is not far and the day is quite lovely.”

As they walked, Poe followed just half a step behind Leia’s right shoulder, looking perfectly content to be there. The symbolism was not lost on Leia.

The lovely day, as Tala had put it, was a bit hot for Leia’s tastes, and she could feel the collar of her shirt beginning to dampen with sweat. The sun was large in the sky, virtually no cloud cover, and though the trees were tall they were so thin at the tops that they offered little shade.

Still, it was a pleasant view and Leia enjoyed the walk. It had been some time since she’d spent so long in inter-galactic travel and it was nice to have her feet on the ground.

Tala led them for perhaps ten minutes past the spaceport, to a scatter of houses around a small lake. “For visitors, mostly,” she explained as she took them inside the second house to the left.

“You’ll find a small kitchen down the hall,” Tala said as they walked inside. She gestured to her left, indicating an airy room with a large window overlooking the lake and comfortable-looking sofas. “The lounge, and the refresher is just past here. This is the bedroom,” she said as she opened a closed door.

Leia noted that she used bedroom, singular, and also that inside there was only one bed. It was an exceedingly large bed, to be sure, but only one.

Then she observed the pile of pillows and blankets at the foot of it, on the floor, and realized that they were quite serious about this manservant business.

“You will find the room well-stocked should you care to relax before dinner. If there is anything else you need, please don’t hesitate to ask. Otherwise, we will send for you in a few hours. Enjoy,” Tala said, bowing before she exited.

“Well-stocked with what?” Poe asked, immediately moving to the vanity to rummage through the drawers. “Ah,” he said, his face spasming weirdly.

As Leia watched, Poe held up a couple of vials of what were unmistakably sexual aids. “When she said I’d be seeing to your pleasure, she really meant your pleasure.”

“She expects you to literally sleep at my feet,” Leia said, gesturing to the pallet on the floor. How… demeaning.

Poe was smirking faintly, dark eyes amused. “This was not in the briefing report.”

Leia closed her eyes for a moment. “Threepio has a lot to answer for when I return to base.”

“Maybe he mistranslated.”

“He’d be horrified if that’s the case.” Whatever had happened, they were going to have to make the most of it. Clearly they would have no use for whatever else was in those drawers and Poe…“Obviously there is no need for you to sleep on the floor. We’re both adults; I think we can manage to share a bed as big as this one.”

“I really don’t mind,” Poe insisted. “You can take the bed. I’ll be fine.”

“You will sleep in the bed, Poe. I’m not having you on the floor at my feet.”

He shrugged. “I’m not the best at sharing space. If I roll over onto you in the middle of night, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Leia narrowed her eyes but he seemed to be completely serious. A compulsive cuddler. Well, she supposed that fit. “As long as you keep your hands to yourself.”

“Oh, no promises, General,” Poe declared impishly. “You have invited me into your bed.”

“Regrettably, I see now.” Unable to resist her curiosity, she opened the top vanity drawer, which seemed to contain a lot of silk. “Feels nice against your skin but not terribly practical,” she mused. “Knots always loosen. Though, it has other uses.” To the left was the drawer of tubes and vials Poe had found, and below was an exceedingly large selection of various tools for penetration.

Leia decided that was enough for now. She looked at Poe, who seemed torn between embarrassment and hilarity. “I suppose this is what you get for volunteering for every damn thing you can,” she said.

“I never said I minded. Have you heard me complain? In fact, it’s you who seems to be uncomfortable, which I think was the opposite of our hosts’ intentions.”

“They think you’re my _manservant,_ Poe. More than that, they expect you to…” She waved her hand vaguely at the vanity. “They assume that I would require you to… to service me!”

Leia was well aware that the galaxy was a vast place filled with beings whose ways of life and thinking differed from hers. She liked to think she was an accepting sort of person. She certainly wouldn’t ask anyone to change to suit her.

But Poe was a man in her command, a commissioned officer in the Navy, who led squadrons into battle for her. The idea that these people could think that she would _ever -_

Poe moved a step closer to her. “Tala made an important distinction. However strange their customs may seem to us, I’m not meant to be your slave. I am meant to serve you by choice, General. As I’ve always done.”

“This is _different,_ Poe. This isn’t you volunteering for some reckless mission in the service of the Resistance. This is… this is…”

“Personal? It’s always been personal for me, General.”

“I think you’re missing the point.” Leia sank into an armchair in the corner of the room, feeling suddenly weary.

“I think _you’re_ missing _my_ point.” Poe had followed her, standing just before her seat and looking at her in that way he had, as though nothing and no one was more important than Leia and this very moment.

“You were my hero, General,” he said. “When I was six I wanted to marry you because you were beautiful and smart and brave and strong, but then I grew up. I grew up and you were still my hero and when you came to me on Mirrin Prime, I… I knew the Resistance was where I needed to be but even if I hadn’t I would have gone with you because it was you asking. I wanted to be like you, I…” Poe paused as though he were gathering his thoughts. “I always looked up to my parents and tried to act in a way that would make them proud, but I looked at you the same way. Leia Organa, last princess of Alderaan, who devoted her life to service of the galaxy. I knew that whatever side of this fight you were on was the right one and I wanted… I wanted to be your indispensable right hand and I hoped you’d love me for it.”

He was blushing now, pink rising in his tan cheeks. “Not… not _love_ me, maybe, I mean… I knew… I’m not six anymore, and I know how things work. But I still think you’re beautiful and smart and brave and strong, and I hoped you’d look at me like I was someone worthy of being by your side.”

Leia cocked an eyebrow. “So you took on all the riskiest missions to impress me?”

“Well, that and I like the rush,” Poe admitted.

“Crazy people,” Leia muttered. “I’m always surrounded by crazy people.”

“Sure, Hutt slayer, because you never do anything dangerous and like it.”

Leia suppressed her smile, but only barely. “And they made me a general for it.”

Poe laughed. “Clearly you learned by example, considering you recruited me expressly because I nearly got myself killed doing something I wasn’t supposed to.”

“You’re a heroic crazy person, at least.”

“Seems to me you prefer surrounding yourself with heroic crazy people. Maybe because they remind you of yourself.”

Maybe it was in her blood, Leia thought. She felt like an Organa but she was a Skywalker, too, with all of their impatience, recklessness, and disregard for personal safety.

Poe dropped to his knees at Leia’s feet. She was so surprised all she could do was watch him as he started to speak.

“Our hosts can think whatever they want,” Poe said. “I don’t care. I don’t care if they think I’m in here washing your feet or making you come or whatever the hell it is a manservant’s supposed to do on this fucking planet. I’d do any of it, all of it, if you asked me, if you wanted me to, because it would be what you deserve. And it would be what _I_ want.”

It was tiring, Leia thought, sometimes, being a symbol. She had been a symbol her entire life. It was exhausting to carry the weight of people’s expectations and ideals. People had died for her, to protect her, to follow her commands, and that was a heavy burden to bear.

Poe’s regard didn’t feel exhausting.

 _Everyone thinks they know,_ Leia thought.

“May I see to your comfort, General?” Poe murmured, looking up at her from beneath his eyelashes.

Leia watched the handsome man before her, this pretty boy, this fearless, daring pilot who had always done and would always do his best for her, who would throw himself into danger without a second’s hesitation if Leia asked. Before she even had to ask.

Leia rested her hand on his head, stroking down through the thick curls. “You always have, Poe.”


End file.
